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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Sunday, December 12, 2021

The Joe Webb Trio: The Art of Tatum @ The Bear Club, Luton - Dec 11

Joe Webb (piano); Dave Archer (guitar); Will Sach (double bass)

Over the course of some eighteen months or so of lockdown pianist Joe Webb explored the music of Art Tatum and in the process put together a show dedicated to performing the music of the legendary American pianist. In August, Newcastle's Lit & Phil hosted a first live show and now, some four months on, Bebop Spoken Here made the trip south from its Tyneside base to check out how things have been going.
  
The Bear Club in Mill Yard, tucked away off Guildford Street, is one of Luton's hidden gems. Since 2014 proprietor Justin John Doherty has worked tirelessly to develop the stripped-back-to-the-brick venue into a welcoming space for live jazz and other events. This evening the big attraction was the Joe Webb Trio playing a final engagement on the trio's self-styled 'Webb City' tour. Arriving early, your correspondent had the pick of the seats. And there was Joe, together with Dave Archer and Will Sach, tucking into a pre-gig meal. A quick 'hello', we'd catch up later in the evening. 

It was to be two sets of Tatum, plus, and it couldn't be anything other than a bonus, some Oscar Peterson! Honeysuckle Rose to start. Wow! Just as it was at the Lit & Phil, this was the business! Sitting at the Bear Club's Yamaha piano, Webb made it look so easy, playing with a free-flowing technique to die for. Guitarist Dave Artist is as swinging as they come - Tiny Grimes, Herb Ellis - underpinned by a wonderful blues feel, bassist, New Yorker Will Sach, possesses an old school dry, woody sound, technique in spades yet admirably content to play the part (no chart!) as required. A class act, all three of them. Moonglow, an impossibly good take on I Got Rhythm, this alone was worth the trip south.

Herbie's Tune and Sunday from the Oscar Peterson album recorded live at Zardi's brought out the best in the Webb City Trio, that said, Webb, Archer and Sach are incapable of delivering anything other than their best. Winter Wonderland acknowledged a forthcoming occasion, whatever that might be, and, to close, a stupendous take on Flying Home. Joe Webb is one of the pianists of his generation and Luton's Bear Club is a fine venue in which to present his music. Check out: www.the-bear.club. Russell
                             
Set list included: Honeysuckle RoseMoonglowI Got RhythmWhen I Wish Upon a StarHerbie's Tune; I Ain't Got NobodyBody and Soul; Anything GoesSunday; Deep PurpleTea for TwoTiny's ExerciseTwo Sleepy People(I Would Do) Anything for YouWinter WonderlandFlying Home

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